ER – The Complete Eleventh Season (Warner DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episodes: C

 

 

If the tenth season of the show ER didn’t show just how desperate it was to not only stay on the air, with the introduction of new cast and other attempts to reignite the shows momentum, season eleven would make it evident that this was a show that not only had run it’s course, but was in need of hanging up the medical gloves once and for all. Of course, that would not happen and the show would run a total of 15 seasons, which is just preposterous.  Even M*A*S*H turned in after eleven seasons and people criticized the show as it ran nearly three times longer than the war itself, which was hardly the point.

 

ER really morphed over its entire existence though and became more of a Soap Opera than anything else by the time it was all said and done.  Sadly the show detached from it’s initial roots as a cutting edge, raw, emotional, and powerful Emergency Room show that was technically interesting and innovating and was always looking for fresh new ways to get it’s fans to interact with the content.

 

This particular season featured a few memorable episodes including a live shark still attached to a patient, a frat brother show with an arrow that ended up in his gut and not in the apple on his head, the usual amount of gunshot wounds and other ER regulars, Carter finally leaves, which most people were waiting for him to finally go as he became more annoying each year.

 

With Season Eleven, we get another solid release of the show to DVD and you can read about our previous coverage here.  While we would expect the studio to eventually put together a full box set that includes all the seasons, most fans have been tracking all along season by season.  Like the previous seasons the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is fairly sharp and consistent, although a bit softer than one would hope, but detail and color look good enough to make up for it.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is average at best sounding very bland and boring compared to newer material that is on the air in full 5.1, which this show never really caught up with, although some receivers can do the Pro Logic decoding to emulate a 5.1 feel, but I found that leaving the playback in strict stereo sounds more natural and less ‘toyed’ with.

 

There are some unaired scenes and a few outtakes to round off this release, fans don’t need reasons to buy this set, but seeing as though it’s on par with the previous sets, it’s a wise enough investment and fans will be glad about that.

 

 

-   Nate Goss